A Day In The Life

Well, I'm at a loss for what to talk about. So I've decided to put down whatever comes to mind. Gather round and let me tell you about my standard day.

Wake up, anytime from 6 AM to 9 AM (yes, 6 AM. I wake up then. Sometimes. Rarely, but sometimes.)
Breakfast varies. Anything as simple as toast with Golden Cream (a substance that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike butter), to an odd mix of eggs, okra, onions, garlic, and bora, with just a hint of soy sauce.

(according to martha.stewarts.mega.empire.com, "a hint" is similar to 3 liters)

After breakfast, depending on what time it is, either I do Bible reading, or I have a frenzied attempt at getting ready for service, all the while screaming "AAAAAAAAGGH!!! I'm late!! I'm late!!! I'm supposed to lead out today!! Or maybe tomorrow! But anyway, I'M LATE!!!"

For service, we meet at a location pre-arranged before the previous meeting. Sunday we'll get a list posted on the information board saying "Monday - Gas Station in Village #10. Tuesday - Bacchus Residence. Wednesday - Middle Dam, Bush Lot." So we meet at whatever place, and do door-to-door until noon. We have nothing besides door-to-door territory. You can imagine how hot it gets while we're in service....

After service, I'll typically go on calls I have. If I'm with someone who has a car or motorcycle, we can go all over. But if I'm not with one of them, I take a bus, and therefore have to be much more careful about which calls I go to (so as not to run up a massive transportation bill for the day).

A shot of the buses.

 

I'll finish up with my calls anytime from 2 in the afternoon to 6. After that, the rest of the day varies. Maybe cooking dinner, maybe cleaning or laundry, maybe reading.... whatever tickles my fancy at the time.

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I'd like to apologize for it being a while since updating this. Internet's been down forever.... I also had been working on this particular blog update for a while, when somehow the page reset itself and I lost everything I had been working on.

And I really don't feel like rewriting every bit of it at this moment. So I'll leave it at this for now and give you more later.

2011 Circuit Assembly

Quite a few things have happened in the past week and a half. Here's the highlights.

1. Went to the capital, Georgetown, with the Youngs for a few days. One of the things we did was.... actually, lemme just show you the picture and see if you recognize this place.

Something else you can do inside that building....

Something we discovered that you can do with the chalk:

We call this "The Luminous Nose". Which, come to think of it, would be a fantastic name for a restaurant in downtown Athens.

Shortly after this, the Dinoo's came back from Trinidad, which meant it was time for me to move back in with Micaiah.

Five points to anyone who can tell me what's changed about this house.

So, moving on to....

PIONEER MEETING!!
We had the pre-Circuit Assembly Pioneer Meeting this past Friday, and it was at the Palmyra congregation. It was packed.

Cool, I just noticed a new way to put the pictures up.
Anyhoo....


One thing that was neat for us all was being able to meet our new District Overseer. One of the things he talked about at length was the various benefits from the recent merging of the Guyana/Suriname/Trinidad branches. For instance, the branch is located in Trinidad, which among those three countries has the most resources available. So the primary effect of this merger has been brothers from Trinidad being sent in to high-need areas of Guyana. For instance, our District Overseer himself (Lemuel Smith) is one of those brothers. Also, Season Dinoo, one of our two elders here in Hopetown, is from Trinidad.

Actually, this subject was expanded upon at the Circuit Assembly, which was the following two days. In the part "Giving Attention to the Needs of the Circuit", our Circuit Overseer Shannon Rainey told us that Guyana has recently been put on the list of "Lands With Limited Resources". The effect of this is our National Building Committee has basically been done away with, and we now are under Trinidad's.... jurisdiction? Doesn't seem like the right word, but it's the best I can think of right now.

But anyway, Brother Rainey said "This is in fact a very good thing. Now that we have the support of the Trinidad branch, we will begin building like never before!"
Which we can already see coming true. Hopetown congregation will be getting a new Kingdom Hall in just a few months!

Well, the build will begin in just a few months. It'll still take quite a while to build. But still...
We're very excited about this. Our hall was built when there thirty people attending. We now average over one hundred per meeting. So the chance to get a new hall (and possibly help build it) is something I'm very excited about.

On another note, I discovered possibly the most relaxing way to have a Circuit Assembly.

In this picture, you can see people sitting in front of me, after that is the stage, and after that is what I like to call "the ocean". Is there any better setting for an assembly? (okay, is there any better setting besides London Assembly Hall?)

...and here's a few shots of what the rest of the place looked like.

Baptism pool. Three baptized, with a Saturday attendance of 809, and a Sunday attendance of 1,071!


I think, though, one of my favorite things about the past weekend, with the pioneer meeting and the assembly, was the chance to see lots of new faces.

Including some familiar ones....

Life In Bush Lot

As I said previously, for a short time I've been staying in the home of Brother and Sister Dinoo while they're in Trinidad. The house is in a village called Bush Lot, which is within walking distance of our Kingdom Hall. It's a quite nice house!

One interesting design feature of houses here is that the aim of the houses are to allow air to circulate freely. For instance...

The best thing about living in Bush Lot is it's the largest village in our territory, so it's where most of my calls live, which has made it extremely easy to keep up with said calls. It used to be I'd go by one of my calls, and they'd say "Sorry, I'm busy right now. Can you come back in an hour?"
So that made it a bit difficult. Either hang around accomplishing nothing for an hour, or reschedule for another day. But while I'm living here, if they ask if I can come back later that same day, it's very very easy.

One great call I have right now is with a man who lives two streets away from where I am now. His name is Amid, and he's been a Hindu all his life, but he's recently been getting interested in the Bible. He has a particular interest in death/resurrection/reincarnation. He's been having lots of odd questions which have had me studying constantly.

So anyway....
IN RECENT NEWS:
Micaiah Young's mother and brother both arrived. At this moment I'm in Georgetown with them. We just got back from bowling/playing pool. I'll have pictures in the next blog post (Translation: I didn't take my camera, and I'll need to get pictures from their camera.)

Since they won't be here very long, there was special effort to make sure they got to have a share during one of the meetings.

We have some neat things coming up. This Friday will be a Circuit Pioneer Meeting, followed by the Circuit Assembly.
Immediately following that, we have a joint Circuit/District Overseer visit.

So 'till then,  (note to self: Add wise parting words here before clicking "Publish Post")

Q&A! Quatro!

Okey-dokey. Now for the fourth round of Q&A.

Q. Where were the pictures in the previous entry taken? Isn't your KH indoors?

A. Yes, but out back we have an additional structure, seen here...

  This spot is used for numerous things. Recently, we expanded our Theocratic Ministry School to having a second school, and it's held back here. It can be used as additional seating if the hall gets to full, such as during Memorial. It's main use will actually be expanded on in the following question....

Q. For Sunday afternoon service, we meet for service right after meeting, go home, & then meet at a planned location at 4pm. I was wondering if yours was the same?

A. Our meeting ends at a little before noon, after which many go home. However, many will go into our rear seating area (as soon above) and eat lunch, talk, etc. This goes on until about 1, at which time there's a brief meeting for service. Every Sunday the territory we work is nearby the hall, so we don't have far to walk. This way, we can leave behind our jackets, meeting books, and whatnot, go out in service, and then whenever we're done we go back to the hall, gather our stuff, and go home.

Q. Can you describe for us your typical day?

A. Each day varies, depending on which day of the week it is. This handy chart, which I spent nearly a minute putting together, will explain my weekly schedule.

Sunday: Leave for the meeting at around 9:15. Meeting begins at 10. At 12, meeting ends, at which point lunch begins. This is the signal for me to remember I forgot my lunch, yet again. Fortunately, everybody brings extra food. After eating, I tell myself  "NEXT week, I'll remember my lunch." At 1, the meeting for service begins. Service typically lasts until 2, after which I continue in service with Jehu Cadogan (a 14-year old regular auxiliary pioneer) seeing various calls. We're usually out until 4:30/5-ish.

Monday: Field service. The place for meeting changes every week, so it's very important that we check the information board at each meeting to see where we'll meet for the week. After service ends (usually 12:30, though you can quit anytime you want), Monday is usually my day for getting back to magazine calls.

Tuesday: Tuesday in one of two days that there are no meetings for service. So in our house, Tuesday is cleaning, shopping, going to internet cafe, and laundry day. (Due to the lack of service Tuesdays, Monday also happens to be 'Stay Up Late Watching Movies' night.)

Wednesday: Again, service. This is my shortest service, due to door-to-door lasting until noon, and me having scheduled all my calls for other days. Sometimes I haven't finished my laundry on Tuesday, so Wednesday gives me a chance to make up for it......

Thursday: Thursday is the other day that there's no meeting for service, so I use this day as an opportunity to study for the meeting. Our meeting begins at 5 PM, and is over by 7. It's interesting though, because it's typically very hard to get a bus anywhere after dark (it's dark here by 6 PM), but there's one bus driver who's figured out "Every week there's a huge group of people standing outside the Kingdom Hall who need a ride in that direction...." So he waits outside for us. Also, there's a shop right across the road from our hall, so before we get in the bus some of us buy snacks, and then pass them around on way home. I myself am a Shirley Biscuit guy....

Friday: Again, field service in the morning, after which I go to calls I have nearby my house (say, within two villages either direction).

Saturday: On Saturday I meet for service with my service group. We only have two, so it's easy to keep straight which on I'm in (which is number two. Wait a minute... One! Yes, I am definitely in group one.)

(wait.... two? No! I am for sure in group one!)

After morning service, I visit my studies. At the moment, I have one (who's left over from my last visit), but I have three others which are close to being studies.

There was also a request for more pictures of the neighborhoods and such, but I hadn't gotten the request until a few minutes ago when I came into this Internet cafe, so I'll have to save it for next time.



Well, in recent news, Micaiah's family came to visit him (arrived today), and will be staying here for two weeks. Due to that, our house is a little full. Fortunately at the same time, Br. Dinoo and his wife will be going to Trinidad, so I'll be house-sitting for them during that time.

And it occurs to me as I sit here typing, I haven't got any pictures of the house, or Sister Dinoo.
Next time!

Meet Hopetown

Sunday was my first meeting back in Hopetown. There were a few changes that had occurred since I'd been here last. The most noticeable was an entirely new body of elders. Last time, it was Shane Antony and Linel Brown. Now, it's these two:

This is Brother Denoo (pronounced Dean-o). He and his wife are from Trinidad. For once, I have no idea what the first name is.

Our other elder is the one on the left, Sean Smith. Last year he was in Paradise, our neighboring congregation, but after Brown and Antony were reassigned, he was the one asked to take their place.

The brother on the right is James Bruce, who several years ago moved here from Antigua. He's been serving as a ministerial servant in Hopetown for at least two years. Here's a better picture...

He has the best hat collection in the congregation.

Aside from Micaiah, we have three servants in our hall. James Bruce, another is William Lynton.

Our third is Claudius "Br. Mac" MacAlmont. He wasn't at the meeting Sunday, so I haven't seen him yet. If memory serves, I may have posted a picture of him on the blog a few months back.

I was reminded of one thing I had forgotten how much I enjoyed. Sunday afternoon service! Whenever I think about going in service after the meeting, I think to myself  "Ugh..." Or something along those lines. But yet, I find I love it every single time. You'd think I'd learn eventually.
One handy thing to have with you is a partner. I personally spend nearly every Sunday afternoon in service with Sean Sarjoo....

He's helpful because he refuses to slow down. Anytime I find myself thinking "That should be enough houses for the day" I look up and see him already marching to the next one.



Now for some standard updates. I finally got back home Friday, around 2 PM. Fortunately I didn't have much to unpack because I had left all my stuff here when I left. Two suitcases of clothes, meeting books, all he necessary shoes, ties, etc. As I was unpacking what little I brought, Micaiah was filling me in on some changes. For one thing, he had bought a washing machine (YAAAAAAAAYY!) One thing he mentioned was he had been having difficulty with rats. He had looked through the house several times trying to find the nest, but couldn't.

(note the foreshadowing going one here)

He also mentioned he maintained a decent schedule of house cleaning, including my room. Sweeping, dusting, etc. "The one thing I haven't cleaned," he said "Is your suitcases. I've left those alone."

(again, foreshadowing.)

So I finally go open up one of my suitcases. Inside, we find....

A nest of rats. They had chewed through the side and settled into the bottom under lots of old jeans.
The good news here though, is they had only gotten into one, and they were in the one I had filled with clothes that were on the verge of being completely ruined anyway. The other suitcase - the non-rat-infested one - is the one I had put service clothes in. And then the meeting clothes were all on hangers. So no real harm done.

To be honest, there's really a whole lot else of note. The few days should be fairly uneventful, so for the next blog, I'm relying on you. Tell me what you want me to write about.

Send questions and suggestions to nutso42@gmail.com, or if you prefer, joshuawestfall42@gmail.com
I check the first one much more. Just so you know.

I'm Baaa-aaack!

Well, I finally made it back to Guyana. Arrived at 1:30 Friday morning. I technically didn't get out of the airport and to the hotel until past 3, but otherwise....

Anyway, the story:

I left from Columbus Airport at 12:10 Thursday (Noon. Not midnight.), and it was a straight flight to JFK in New York. From there, I boarded onto a flight that was a straight shot to Guyana. I had noticed though, while sitting at the gate for the flight, to bordering gate was "Flight Uzbekistan". I'll be honest, up to this point I had always thought Uzbekistan wasn't really a country. You know how when people need to make up a name for some ridiculous sounding country, and they'll come up with like Zwyshkistan. I was sure Uzbekistan was one of those. But it's one of those that actually exist. (Like Chad.)

Question: How come we haven't yet had a Yearbook titled "Highlights From 2012 / Chad / Uzbekistan"?


So anyway, the flight from JFK to Georgetown Guyana went well. Except for half the way we were flying through a thunderstorm. And the guy sitting behind kept bonking his head against the back of my seat.

CRASH.... BONK BONK.... CRACK-OW!... BONK BONK....

After the plane landed at 1:30-ish, it was just a matter of going through immigration (which went fine) and finding Micaiah, who had come to pick me up. And he did so in the only appropriate Welcome-Back -To-Guyana way...

So from the airport, he gave me a ride into the capital Georgetown (commonly abbreviated G/Town), and there we stayed overnight in a hotel designed specifically for backpackers, called The Tropicana.

And so, right now we are now in the only coffee shop in the country, Oasis. I am updating my blog, drinking coffee from Guatemala (the Ethiopian coffee's better). And it's a total downpour.

(the picture of the bike is more recent than the picture of Tropicana. Note the extent of clouds and gloom and rain. It's wonderful!)


Soon I should have more. But for now, I'll leave you with this thought:

Kyrgyzstan is one of the world's six independent Turkic states (along with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan). Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and People's Republic of China to the East. It's capital and largest city is Bishkek.

Here We Go Again!

Well, it's about time for an update. My return to Guyana shall be....

(drum roll)

September 15th! So in a little under a month, basically.


That's all for now. Just wanted to post an update on my return trip.
(hasn't this been exciting?!!)